Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has promised simpler privacy controls and an option to turn off third-party services, in response to stern criticism of the social network's privacy policy.

"Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls," the Zuck explains in a Washington
Post column, "but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark."

The launch of the Open Graph and the Instant Personalisation feature have sparked an outcry over Facebook's increasingly complicated privacy controls and the amount of personal information unwittingly revealed to the public. This is perhaps best illustrated by Openbook, a site that lets you search for potentially embarassing public status messages.

"There needs to be a simpler way to control your information," Zuckerberg admits. "In the
coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to
use."

Zuckerberg repeatedly assures his readers that he and his company have listened to these complaints and are following it up with simpler privacy control settings and the option to easily block third-party services. Facebook is against the public access of your personal information and it supports your control of the information you share, he says.

Have you left Facebook over this issue? Will a privacy revamp tempt you back? Or is this all a storm in a teacup? Let us know what you think in comments.